The Pediatric Express is an urgent care clinic in Morrisville, NC designed especially for ill or injured children and adolescents.

We offer pediatric care for patients who:

Need the convenience of walk-in pediatric care

Have minor emergencies such as lacerations, fractures, or sprains

Have suddenly fallen ill with any pediatric illness

How many times has your child had a fever or an asthma attack after your doctor's office has closed?

EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS HERE

That's why we are here!

No one wants to sit in an emergency department for hours with a sick child. The chaotic activity of a trauma is scary for children and sitting in a waiting room full of sick adults may expose your child to other illnesses.

OUR SERVICES

pediatric illnesses

While some things do require a trip to the emergency department, most pediatric illnesses and injuries can be managed in a clinic if the right tools are available.

Pediatric Express

At The Pediatric Express, we offer on-site x-rays as well as common on-site lab tests. The results are available quickly so you do not have to go home wondering if your child is going to be okay.

treatments

In addition, we offer treatment for many injuries. We can suture lacerations and we offer medical glue instead of stitches when appropriate. We can splint broken bones and provide care for sprains and strains.

Our Pediatric Providers can diagnose and treat most childhood illnesses and injuries, including:

Fever

Colds and Flu

Pneumonia

Sinus infections

Ear infections

Sore throat

Asthma

Rashes

Allergic reactions

Pink eye

Abdominal pain

Urinary tract infections

Bumps and Bruises

Foreign bodies in ears and noses

Lacerations

Fractures

Sprains and Strains

Sports/camp/daycare physicals

If your child requires care beyond our capabilities, we will make sure that we get you to the right place.

We offer camp, sports, and daycare physicals for $45 (not billed to your insurance company as this is not an annual physical).

The Pediatric Express offers professional ear piercing for children as young as 3 months. The $60.00 fee includes piercing by a physician, earrings, cleaning solution, and numbing cream (for children over 2 years old). We also include follow up care during the initial period (12 weeks) if you should encounter a problem.

We do not offer ear piercing on Sundays September through April. Please understand that this is a medical clinic and very sick children may take priority over cosmetic procedures. Families coming for ear piercing must check in to the general patient queue.

OUR PROVIDERS

Dr. Darla Gallentine

She graduated from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000 and completed a pediatrics residency at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA in 2003. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Gallentine spent 5 years practicing in the pediatric emergency department prior to opening The Pediatric Express. She has also spent time providing medical relief overseas in countries such as Honduras, Kenya, and Haiti. She resides in Cary with her husband and two sons.

Dr. Abigail Durden

She graduated from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000 and completed a pediatrics residency at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA in 2003. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Durden has spent a significant part of her career providing care for the medically underserved population of North Carolina. She resides in Cary with her husband and two children.

Kristen Drake, CFNP

Kristen received her BSN at Clemson University and her FNP at George Mason University in collaboration with George Washington University Medical School. She began her journey in Pediatrics in 1999 in Reston, VA. After having 4 children she left the hectic lifestyle of the DC area and headed to the Children's Care Clinic at the Medical University of South Carolina where she enjoyed learning Spanish and serving the local hispanic population. For the past 4 years, Kristen and her family have lived in Denver where she home-schooled her 4 kids and spent time skiing, hiking, and biking. She joined the Pediatric Express as a part-time provider in 2016.

INSURANCE

The Pediatric Express accepts the following insurance plans at this time

Blue Cross Blue Shield

MedCost

First Health/Coventry

Aetna

United Health Care

Cigna

Wellpath

NC Medicaid (with PCP authorization only, more info on FAQs page)

TriCare

Please contact your insurance carrier or view their website to verify your benefits prior to seeking care. Services not covered by a specific plan are the patient's responsibility. Out of Network charges are also the patient’s responsibility. Services received will be billed to your insurance company and charges will not be adjusted or removed to reduce patient responsibility once determined by your policy.

We collect urgent care copay or a portion of the charges toward your deductible at time of service.

We do not accept out of state Medicaid.

Billing inquiries are handled by our third party billing agency, Applied Medical Services. They can be reached at 919-313-1068.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We do physicals for sports, daycare, and camp. We do not do yearly well child exams or kindergarten physicals. We do not give any vaccines other than the Tdap booster required for middle school. Please contact your general pediatrician for those services.

We provide care on a walk-in basis only. No appointment is needed, in fact we do not make appointments. You come when it is convenient for you. Generally speaking, we do not have long wait times. We do not close for lunch. We will accept patients until 15 minutes prior to closing.

We provide ear piercing for ages 3 months and older. We pierce with a disposable cartridge and do one ear at a time. Needle piercing is done through piercing salons/tattoo parlors. We only pierce earlobes as it is not safe to pierce cartilage with a disposable cartridge. It is perfectly safe to pierce the skin of the lobe with a disposable cartridge. We provide numbing cream if desired for ages 2 and older. It needs to stay on the ear for 45 minutes in order to be effective. You can leave the office while it is working and return when it is time to do the piercing.

We do not offer ear piercing on Sundays September through April. Please understand that this is a medical clinic and very sick children may take priority over cosmetic procedures. Families coming for ear piercing must check in to the general patient queue.

We do not employ a triage nurse to give phone advice. Your pediatrician's office has one available if you would like to discuss your child's condition over the phone. We are more than happy to see your child in the office. If your child has been here recently and you have questions about his diagnosed condition, we are happy to answer those questions.

Medicaid has strict rules regarding patients and their medical homes in an effort to provide continuity of care and to decrease costs. In order to participate in the Medicaid program, we must follow these rules. We are not allowed to see your child unless your pediatrician gives us permission. To reduce frustration, the safest thing to do is to contact your pediatric office or the pediatrician on call (after hours nurse line) if you think your child needs to be seen in an urgent care. If they instruct you to have your child seen by us, the process will be much easier once you are here. We recognize that it is extremely frustrating to drive a sick child to urgent care and be told that the regular pediatrician will not allow the patient to be seen, and we apologize for the extra steps that are required. These procedures do not apply to patients with private health insurance.

The Pediatric Express is an urgent care and bills as an urgent care. Our billing is done by a third party. While you can pay your bill in our office or by calling our office, questions should be directed to Applied Medical Services at 919-313-1068.